I've heard a lot of bad things about Banana Hobby when it comes to the quality of the products and the service. It seems like most of their planes actually fly well (and look amazing), but I always hear about people getting their plane in the mail with broken parts, messed up wiring, missing parts, bad electronics, etc. Am I only hearing the bad things about Banana Hobby and no good things, or is it really that bad for everyone that buys from them? It seems weird that a company that has the potential of getting a very good reputation would just refuse to step it up and fix a few problems that are holding the entire company back.

It is internet, a lot of "Simon said". regardless how many people said that they are bad, but still many people purchase the newer FMS eay trainer from them. Friend of mine got several plane from them and has no problem. But still sometimes buyers should aware who don't give aftersales support or having trouble to get refund.

I read all of this and chose to purchase a couple planes from them, figuring that there are probably far more GOOD experiences than bad, however my situation has clearly reached an absurd level...

I do run/own a business and if I provided service like they do, I would not exist....We offer competitive pricing on consumer electronics, we deal with defective items and we have never treated our customers in the fashion that they (Banana Hobby) have.

It is sad, because good service, honesty, morality and decisive action really do not cost a dime, but are worth thousands of dollars to a business with the good will it creates.

I am not here to protect BananaHobby - I had my issues in the past with BH .. Pete you know!

But in the end they all suck! Doesn't matter if they called BH, NP, TH or Horizon .. they are all here to make the quick buck and need to move forward very quickly .. Towerhobbies are as reputable company is probably the worst.. had real bad experience with them - even worse than with BH - BH at least made it good in the end .. just took a long time...

If you are new, go to your LHS and get the plane there - once you have experience you can order online .. but it's always a 50-50 chance :-)

I am not here to protect BananaHobby - I had my issues in the past with BH .. Pete you know!

But in the end they all suck! Doesn't matter if they called BH, NP, TH or Horizon .. they are all here to make the quick buck and need to move forward very quickly .. Towerhobbies are as reputable company is probably the worst.. had real bad experience with them - even worse than with BH - BH at least made it good in the end .. just took a long time...

If you are new, go to your LHS and get the plane there - once you have experience you can order online .. but it's always a 50-50 chance :-)

No not new...Over 20 years...First tower order was back in 92 or 93....Love my LHS, but it's the same generic equipment and limited selection...Love the FMS planes and their detail...

On the LHS topic..The bigger companies like Hobby Town, etc....Typically have a limited selection due to catering to all forms of RC and other hobbies, for instance I am a JR guy, but there isn't one dealer in Austin or San Antonio that stocks the 9503, I prefer Hanger 9 to Great Planes, again limited selection...Most of what i have needed over the years required ordering due to lack of selection locally.

I dont typically look for price being my number one concern, I look for what i want, product quality and than price. If my local LHS has it and it costs a bit more, I will always support them, as it is more than supporting a local business..that directly puts money into the community I live in, not some fat SOB ceo and his next vacation home...

Too many people choose and shop on price alone and don't realize when they give their dollars to companies outside their communities, and bitch when all these business entities close, and unemployment SKYROCKETS...well guess what, you had a hand in it by not supporting local business...They are not out to screw anyone, it really is simple economics...it costs money to run a business and the pricing you see online is fairly low margin and it takes a ton of inventory turns to make a real profit..

Price was their only focus and it is NOT a sustainable business model.

We/I sell electronics (custom installation of A/V and Automation products), when we sell a tv to a client we pay 100.00 flat rate shipping to get it...and that is a subsidized price...More often than not the sale price at Best Buy and other stores is about at our cost or slightly below...On a big job we absorb it, but on smaller jobs we might refuse it...Either way we lose our ass on TV's....

Hi fellow pilots! Our goal here at Banana Hobby is to provide enrichment to his fine hobby by providing the finest of R/C at reasonable prices. In terms of customer service and post-sale support, we certainly do try our best to respond to our customers' desires and inquiries in timely fashions. We are certainly far from perfect, however with small successes achieved each day, we do hope to make even the smallest of rewarding changes for pilots worldwide. -Seba

Hi fellow pilots! Our goal here at Banana Hobby is to provide enrichment to his fine hobby by providing the finest of R/C at reasonable prices. In terms of customer service and post-sale support, we certainly do try our best to respond to our customers' desires and inquiries in timely fashions. We are certainly far from perfect, however with small successes achieved each day, we do hope to make even the smallest of rewarding changes for pilots worldwide. -Seba

Well Seba thank you for your input, and I will say you guys have a perfect opportunity to make my situation good, without stretching it out another month...Believe me when I say, I will be as equally vocal about good customer service and policies as I am about the negative...

You haven't been involved in my second AT-6 coming in damaged and defective, so I cannot give you credit, but so far, Larry as been proactive and responsive, I can only hope BH will continue on this path, and expedite my exchange and request for a NON Art-Tech plane this time.

Hi hepcatz! I certainly do apologize for you having to receive your planes with the reported discrepancies. In terms of the current returning package, I have notified our fellow technicians in the RMA Department to acknowledge your request for a refund, and not an exchange. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding, sir. -Seba

Hi There. I recently purchased a giant P40 and a USB practice remote for $30.
Strange enough the order status told me the remote was cancelled without further reason why. But I had already pay'd for it. I did send them an e-mail with my question how I'd get my money back for the USB remote and got no answer at all in the next 3 weeks. The mail delivered the marvellous P40 and to my big surprise the USB remote was in there too. Then after 2 more weeks I got an answer on my e-mail with apologies and the question if everything was in the package. I answered that everything was there. The stupid thing was that I already ordered a USB remote somewhere else. So now I have 2.
When I found out some canopy magnets were missing they replied very fast and did send 4 of the 10 magnets that I needed. Now they will send the next 6 magnets. So looks to me that they are dooing their best to improve. I have no further complaints. I think They learned their lesson. Lets hope so! Pete Thank you for the marvellous P40!! It is a beauty! And god it is big!!!!

Hi MilkoP40E! We are constantly working to better quality control with our manufacturers and internal operations in hopes to minimize discrepancies and to provide the best service possible. I thank you for your continued patience and understanding. On a side note, the P-40 is indeed a gorgeous bird! -Seba

Hi MilkoP40E! We are constantly working to better quality control with our manufacturers and internal operations in hopes to minimize discrepancies and to provide the best service possible. I thank you for your continued patience and understanding. On a side note, the P-40 is indeed a gorgeous bird! -Seba

Hi Sebastian. Nice to see they check their forums too. I do understand all people who had any bad experience. Sharing complaints make people feel better. We should not forget that complaints are much more likely to get to a forum than just a standard transaction of a product that is bought and works well. So I seriously believe that properly checking reliability of a certain supplier can not be done here. I think if you add up all people who complain here on this forum we end up with a list of not much more than 100 people while Bananahobby has probably sold already more than 20000 planes. Can anyone from the Bananahobby front check and give the exact amount of planes that were sold by your company?
Actually this will be interesting to know and put things in the right perspective. If we know we will probably see a number that shows that maybe only one in 100 planes have some kind of defect..
I am getting tired of al people assuming the worst. Like with the P40 forum. The first 30 pages are full of BS about servo's being too small and people who know better than anyone in the world how bad it will be.
On the other hand there now are messages of people owning A P40 that confirm they made over 50 flights without any servo dying.
I guess it is just how people work. And surely the service of BH once was probably terrible. But for now I can only say they try hard to improve and probably want to get rid of the FFF status.. I believe they can. Still did not find any supplier in the whole world offering this awesome kind of planes for about the same money. HK comes close but don't have this one and many other ones.

Pete.. you should introduce TPM, 6sigma and LEAN in the factories and distribution of your planes. If you dont know what it is. Google it. Than you will see quality going up and prices stay very low as if you do that, efficiency is sky high.

I am just happy that I feel that I am being taken serious by Bananahobby although I was afraid I would end up like the rest on complaints forum. Things went wrong but they fixed it. My compliments for trying so hard to come out of the nasty situation and improve customer care. I will certainly buy more planes from you. Even if all of them will have some parts missing or broken. I am not in a hurry and I am confident they will fix any problems that will occur that are due to their mistake or suppliers. Give them a chance and maybe next year many customers can write how much better customer care is now. If we are man enough to complain now and here. Will we be man enough to admit things are better or even good later? I certainly hope we are.
For the record. I live in the Netherlands. I order from BH, HK, securitycamera 2000, and many other more local online stores. Not once in my life did any of them really let me down. If you stay calm, communicate clearly and have patience things will always work out. Problem is. Many people are not like that. For those who see doom scenario's and act like the world collapses if a part is missing or broken... Don't forget that only 15 years ago most people did not have a mobile phone. We did not fly a plane for $100 but had to build it our selves for about $1000. Postage cost from USA to Europe were still 3 times the price in comparison to now.. The Chinese did not make anything that lasted longer than a month... and so on..
Now they make 9G servo's that live up to 50 flights in a 2M 4.5 kg. plane. We fly for about $450 in a plane too beautiful to be possible 15 years ago. We will have to see what will happen. I don't think it will go wrong for BH now. The company is likely to stay in business. Also Pete is a great flyer and enthusiast. This must be a great drive to improve the company. Don't let the people down. If that is arranged they will for sure continue buying. There still is no other place to go. And if I can do any suggestion. Please make a 2m version of a supermarine spit or a hawker tempest please!!!! And use TPM while building it ;-))